Police: Smash-and-grab thieves steal guns from Bass Pro Shops

July 8, 2011|By Susan Jacobson, Orlando Sentinel

A group of youths drove a stolen car into Bass Pro Shops early Thursday, smashed a glass case and made off with half a dozen guns, Orlando police said.

Three or four boys or young men sped through a roll-up garage door, catapulted 30 to 40 feet into the store, jumped out of what appeared to be an Oldsmobile, grabbed the guns and ran off, police Lt. Arnold Alvarez said.

The guns were replicas of old "cowboy-type" weapons that require black gunpowder, Alvarez said. They use a projectile that is loaded through the muzzle and typically are used in historical reenactments, he said.

Police have video of the burglary, which happened about 2:15 a.m. and set off an alarm, he said. No one was in the sporting-goods store at the time.

The youths left the car behind. In similar cases, thieves typically have another vehicle waiting in which to escape, Alvarez said. However, he didn't know whether that's what happened early Thursday.

Bass Pro Shops is on International Drive near Oak Ridge Road, in Festival Bay Mall at International Drive.